Daniel 2:19-45

English Standard Version

¹⁹Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel in ^(A)a vision of the night. Then Daniel ^(B)blessed the ^(C)God of heaven. ²⁰Daniel answered and said:

^(D)“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
    ^(E)to whom belong wisdom and might.
²¹^(F)He changes times and seasons;
    ^(G)he removes kings and sets up kings;
^(H)he gives wisdom to the wise
    ^(I)and knowledge to those who have understanding;
²²^(J)he reveals deep and hidden things;
    ^(K)he knows what is in the darkness,
    ^(L)and the light dwells with him.
²³To you, O ^(M)God of my fathers,
    ^(N)I give thanks and praise,
for ^(O)you have given me wisdom and might,
    and have now made known to me what ^(P)we asked of you,
    for you have made known to us the king's matter.”

²⁴Therefore Daniel went in to ^(Q)Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He went and said thus to him: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon; bring me in before the king, and I will show the king the interpretation.”

²⁵Then ^(R)Arioch brought in Daniel before the king ^(S)in haste and said thus to him: “I have found ^(T)among the exiles from Judah a man who will make known to the king the interpretation.” ²⁶The king declared to Daniel, ^(U)whose name was Belteshazzar, ^(V)“Are you able to make known to me the dream that I have seen and its interpretation?” ²⁷Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, ^(W)enchanters, ^(X)magicians, or ^(Y)astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, ²⁸but ^(Z)there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar ^(AA)what will be in the latter days. Your dream and ^(AB)the visions of your head as you lay in bed are these: ²⁹To you, O king, as you lay in bed came thoughts of what would be after this, ^(AC)and he who reveals mysteries made known to you what is to be. ³⁰But ^(AD)as for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because of any wisdom that I have more than all the living, but in order that the interpretation may be made known to the king, and that ^(AE)you may know the thoughts of your mind.

Daniel Interprets the Dream

³¹“You saw, O king, and behold, a great image. This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening. ³²^(AF)The head of this image was of fine gold, ^(AG)its chest and arms of silver, its middle and ^(AH)thighs of bronze, ³³^(AI)its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. ³⁴As you looked, a stone was cut out ^(AJ)by no human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and ^(AK)broke them in pieces. ³⁵Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became ^(AL)like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; and the wind carried them away, so that ^(AM)not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became ^(AN)a great mountain ^(AO)and filled the whole earth.

³⁶“This was the dream. Now we will tell the king its interpretation. ³⁷You, O king, ^(AP)the king of kings, to whom ^(AQ)the God of heaven ^(AR)has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the glory, ³⁸and into whose hand he has given, wherever they dwell, the children of man, ^(AS)the beasts of the field, and the birds of the heavens, making you rule over them all—you are ^(AT)the head of gold. ³⁹^(AU)Another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom ^(AV)of bronze, ^(AW)which shall rule over all the earth. ⁴⁰And ^(AX)there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron ^(AY)breaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it shall ^(AZ)break and crush all these. ⁴¹And as you saw ^(BA)the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the ^(BB)firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay. ⁴²And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. ⁴³As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage,^[a] but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. ⁴⁴And in the days of those kings ^(BC)the God of heaven will set up ^(BD)a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. ^(BE)It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and ^(BF)it shall stand forever, ⁴⁵just as ^(BG)you saw that ^(BH)a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that ^(BI)it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A ^(BJ)great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.”